Fountain-type car mop



Feb. 12, 1957 J. M CARTER 2,780,821

FOUNTAIN-TYPE CAR MOP Filed June 20, 1952 INVENTOR: JAMES M. CARTER BY/W A r TOR/YE).

United States FOUNTAIN-TYPE CAR MOP James M. Carter, Nashville, Tenn.

Application June 20, 1952, Serial No. 294,577

8 Claims. (Cl. 15-128) This invention relates to a fountain-type car mop. More particularly it relates to a light-weight fountaintype car mop having a replaceable head.

Fountain-type car mops of the prior art have generally been unsatisfactory due to high cost of construction, poor and wasteful distribution of water, insufficient amount of strands, inadequate padding for protecting the car finish, nonor difticultly-replaceable head, excessive weight, and difficult and fatiguing operability.

It is accordingly an object of this invention to provide a fountain-type car mop that is highly effective and yet easy to handle.

it is another object to produce a replaceable-head car mop that is economical in acquisition and upkeep, and highly efficient in cleaning and in its use of water.

It is a further object to provide a car mop designed for economical production in relatively small shops.

These and other objects and advantages of the inven tion will become apparent as the following detailed description proceeds.

In the drawings, in which like reference characters refer to the same parts in the several views:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a mop fabricated according to this invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical exploded sectional view taken on the axis or" the handle-forming conduit.

Fig. 3 is a plan view, from below, showing an assemblage step.

With reference now to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates a rectanguiar block of strong but light-weight material, such as poplar. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the block 1 is provided with a bore 3, angled at about 15 from horizontal, entering the rear face 5 of block 1 near its upper edge, and emerging slightly forwardly of the center of the bottom face i of the block to form a water-discharge opening 3. Opening 3' may be formed by having the bit making the bore 3 continue boring thru the face 7, or can be formed by a second boring operation made so as to intersect the bore 3 and thus produce a smoother outlet opening.

Closely press-fitted in the bore 3 is a coupling sleeve 9, formed of aluminum tubing or equivalent material. Sleeve 9 is preferably bias-cut at 9 to increase the area of the discharge opening. Sleeve 9 may be anchored in the bore 3 by punching a dimple 11 with a tool inserted thru opening 3'. Alternatively or additionally the anchoring may be effected by cementing and/ or driving a nail or screw thru the block and sleeve from within or without.

The sleeve 9 initially has an internal diameter slightly greater than the external diameter of the handle-pipe 13, but it is die-pressed to give it a forwardly constricted slight taper whereby it closely wedge-fits the bore 3 and whereby handle-pipe i3 wedge-fits its internal bore. The latter wedge-lit is extremely tight, probably due to the breaking and abrasive inter-mingling of the thin aluminum-oxide coatings of the press-fitted surfaces, since the pipe 13 is also preferably formed of aluminum tubing.

However, a gentle tapping against the rear edge of sleeve 9 is sufiicient to disengage parts 9 and 13 for replacement of the head when worn out. Alternatively, the taper could be formed on the pipe 13, if desired, or on both of parts 9 and 13.

At its rear end the handle-pipe 13 is flanged outwardly in well-knowu manner to receive and hold a conventional fema, hose-coupler 15, slid over the pipe 13 prior to its insertion into the bore 3. Also prior to such insertion, a heavy washer 17 of rubber, leather, soft metal, etc., is slid onto pipe 13 to be later pressed against the head, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, being stretched tightly around the sleeve E, and against the rear face of the mop head.

The water-distributing element of the mop head is a porous membrane 21, formed of burlap or the like, stretched loosely across the lower face of block 1 and turned up all around and tacked lightly to the sides thereof. Membrane 21 forms, in use, a slightly downwardly dished distributing chamber from which water issues in very fine low-velocity streams thru all the meshes of the cloth.

Across the longitudinal center line of membrane 21, mop cards 23 are evenly laid, as shown in Fig. 3. Over these cords 23 and along said line, a piece of tape 25 is stretched and sewed to membrane 21 to form a pair of c ntral mop strands 23a and 23]), extending longitudinally of the mop head.

Over the top surface of the block is tightly stretched a piece of (preferably water-proofed tightly woven) cloth or a sheet of plastic material 2.7. The sheet of material 2'7 produces an esthetically pleasing top and also tends to prevent water from passing upwardly from the chamber formed by membrane Zll, the upper edge of which is covered and overlapped by the down-turned edge or" sheetli'i. The seal (which need not be watertight) between the overlapped lightly tacked edges of parts 21 and 27 is further improved when the outer mop element 31, next to be described, is wrapped around the sides of the mop head and heavily nailed into place by nails 33.

The outer mop element 31 is formed by doubling a tape 35' of heavy duck or other strong material over the (upper) ends of parallel-laid mop cords 37 and strongly stitchim at 3) to form the unit 31. Mop unit 31 is then tightly wrapped around the sides of block 1, over the lapped edges of parts 21 and 27, and fastened in place by nails 33.

From the above description it is seen that there are four rows of mop cords extending along the under face of the mop head transverse to the normal forward and rearward oscillating motion used in washing and rinsing. Between these rows of cords are rows of fine water jets formed by the meshes in the burlap member 21.

Nails 33 are sufficiently countersunk to prevent their contact with the finish of an automobile, and washer 17 forms a guard for the front end of the handle-pipe 13. The rest of the head is effectively covered with cloth, of which the tape 35 forms a very soft protective bumper.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention by way of illustration, it is to be understood that many changes can be made in the size, shape, composition and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention defined by the subjoincd claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A fountain type car mop, comprising: a block of light strong material having a tubular bore extending forwardly and slightly downwardiy from the central region of its rear face to a point adjacent the center of the lower face of the block and having at least one waterdischarge opening into said lower face; a porous waterdistributing sheet covering said lower face; a tape means wrapped around and against the sides of said block; closely-spaced block-penetrating fastening elements securing said tape to said block; a multiplicity of mop cords depending from said tape means; and a combined waterconduit and handle rigidly fastened at one end thereof in said bore.

2. A car mop according to claim 1 and in which said block is rectangular and is formed of light-weight tough wood.

3. A car mop according to claim .1 and in which said bore is lined with a metallic sleeve, at least one of said sleeve and said end of said handle being slightly tapered for producing a tight press-fit between said parts.

4. A car mop according to claim 3 and in which said metallic sleeve is formed of aluminum and is fastened to said block by a dimple punched thereinto.

5. A car mop according to claim land in which said porous sheet has additional mop cords attached thereto by a tape stretched and sewed thereto in place across the central portions of said cords.

6. A car mop according to claim 1 and in which said porous sheet has its edges upturned to overlie the sides of said block, and in which a top cover sheet has its edges downturned over said upturned edges, said edges being lightly tacked into place, said tape means being nailed into place over said edges.

7. A car mop according to claim 1 and in which said tape means comprises a strip of cloth folded over the upper ends of parallel-laid mop cords and heavily sewed together to form a mop element.

8. A car mop according to claim 1 and additionally comprising a resilient washer surrounding said handle and pressed against the rear face of the assembled mop head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 176,169 Davies et al. Apr. 18, 1876 653,039 Rowell July 3, 1900 1,077,498 Welch Nov. 4, 1913 1,192,047 Dupuy July 25, 1916 1,334,911 Lampkin Mar. 23, 1920 1,515,484 Holstein Nov. 11, 1924 1,549,341 Weiss Aug. 11, 1925 1,594,902 Grant Aug. 3, 1926 1,965,986 Morgan July 10, 1934 2,205,535 Muckenhirn June 25, 1940 2,373,050 Penick Apr. 3, 1945 2,490,224 McDermott Dec. 6, 1949 

